A consistent best-seller on Amazon with thousands of positive reviews, many consider this particular blend their go-to mild roast to start their busy work day or low-key weekend morning. Clean and bright with just enough sweetness and a rich, nutty flavor, Green Mountain's Breakfast Blend gets points for its consistent and balanced flavor. These pods are compatible with Keurig single-serve coffee machines.

They have the premier design, but do they hold up to the standard? Judge this coffee by its wrapper, and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be blown away. This medium roast is roasted in Canada, certified Fairtrade, organic, Kosher, and straight out of Central and South Africa. These beans go through a rigorous process before getting into the package, and getting to you doorstep. Only a true blue coffee company who understands their customers go to such lengths, and that’s exactly what Kicking Horse Coffee does for you. Don’t compromise on one feature for another—organic coffee beans, roasted to perfection, and they’re waiting for you.
In the test, I took into consideration that people have a variety of coffee preferences. Some like a classic French Roast, meaning lots of dark, toasty notes with a full body and robust (slightly burnt, IMO) flavor. More recently, coffee trends have tended toward the lighter, brighter, fruity end of the tasting spectrum, with a fair amount of acid and berry notes. We aimed for a medium roast, which would theoretically appease a variety of tastes and hit in the middle of this spectrum. Still, we picked three different coffees as our favorites so we could cover the spectrum of coffee flavor preferences. In general, we were looking for coffees that tasted nuanced in flavor, not simply burnt or watery. Hints of chocolate, berries, nuttiness, and round, creamy mouthfeel were ideal. We wanted a coffee that would taste good black—and also hold up to added milk.
Providing low acidity and deep, rich flavor of milk chocolate with extraordinary notes of cocoa, caramel, and honey, Don Pablo K-Cups are made of high quality, 100% Arabica coffee. Produced with no artificial substances, with a beautifully designed package, these K-Cups are certified organic by CCOF. What makes Don Pablo coffee famous is the mentioned natural flavor character, based on the caramelization of the natural sugars, that provides an incredibly pleasant aftertaste.
Java Planet is owned and operated by a family, producing certified USDA Organic coffee which is 100% free of chemicals and pesticides. The company roasts their Columbian coffee beans in small batches and put the date right on each bag. It is Fair Trade specialty coffee with a smooth, full flavor, and as some customers noted, a heavenly aroma. It’s a popular favorite with many coffee lovers.
Like the others, this coffee is certified both Organic and Fair Trade. But it was the only one among the 52 varieties that is also Rainforest Alliance Certified (RAC). This set them apart and gave them extra points in our Eco-Friendliness category. RAC is a credible certifying body that aims to protect our rain forests, soil, and other ecosystems from the devastation caused by coffee production.

Most bags of premier coffee come in twelve ounce bags, and Peet’s Big Bang Coffee Medium Roast is no exception. You’ve seen this brand in the aisles of the grocery store, but you’ve never heard anybody rave about Peet’s. It’s an experience, and Peet’s drinkers are loyal to the brand for one reason: Ethiopian Super Natural. This signature blend celebrates Peet’s fifty year anniversary as a leading coffee company, and remain as one of the top rated coffee beans brand available online. Peet’s has been designing signature styles, roasts, and blends of coffee for ages; hop on the Peet’s train and see why nobody’s talking about it—they don’t want you to grab the last bag off the shelves and leave them without.

We used our favorite drip coffee maker, the Bonavita 8-Cup Brewer, to brew all of the beans. We used coffee and water measurements recommended by the Bonavita brewing instructions: 70 grams of ground coffee for the 8-cup machine. We drank each coffee hot, at first black, then with milk added if that's how the taster preferred their coffee. When possible, I bought whole beans and ground them (we wouldn't recommend buying pre-ground coffee), but a few of these coffees only come—or are much more commonly found—ground. It's worth noting, however, that all of our winners were whole bean coffees in this second round of tasting.

I was craving Rooibos tea but still wanted a kick, so the barista suggested I mix two up and didn't charge me extra for it. She was super friendly and had a giant smile on her face the whole time - truly delightful. I like that their ingredients are sustainably sources and that all they do is geared to a good cause as a whole. I'll be sure to stop by again soon!
What we love about this coffee is its blend of economy and flavor. This is one of the most affordable coffees out there, ounce for ounce. And despite being so cheap, it doesn’t compromise too far on flavor. Being a medium roast, it does have a bitter yet slight acidic aftertaste. The packaging is large and generous, and it uses Mountain Grown beans for superior aroma. The brand also sports UTZ Certification for Sustainability.
Here's the truth: K-Cups are packed with the same coffee ground you would buy in your grocery store or supermarket. Flavored coffees are made by spraying propylene glycol on the coffee beans/ground, then adding the flavoring oils or liquids afterward. The propylene glycol helps the beans/ground to hold the flavor, and it acts as a preservative. Every time you drink flavored coffee—whether it's in a K-Cup or a regular coffee machine—you're ingesting propylene glycol and natural and artificial flavorings.
I got a toasted multiseed bagel + cream cheese, as well as a chai latte with soy milk. They have plenty of pastry and coffee options, and they support a great cause, i.e., economically just and environmentally sound trade partnerships (paraphrased from their website just FYI). The toasted bagel was perfect for the slightly rainy and chilly day, and I appreciated how the chai latte wasn't too sweet.
One of the best things about this product is the fact that it went through the Techno Roasting process. The latter is an FDA-approved procedure, which has the benefit of eliminating the acid in the coffee that causes heartburn. This also preserves the qualities of the coffee, such as the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. To add, it also removes the bitterness of the coffee while retaining its rich body and flavor. This means that you can enjoy unadulterated coffee with the purest flavor and aroma.
At the absolute most, if you’re looking to preserve beans in their original packaging, you can refrigerate your beans, but never freeze them. Coffee beans are naturally oily, even the dryer roasts. It’s part of what keeps the flavor going strong. When the oils freeze to the beans, they become stale-tasting, even though you’ll be defrosting them. It changes the beans entirely.
It is much easier to use compared to rest of the drip coffee makers, we’ve reviewed. Can be programmed 24h before to automatically brew. The resulting coffee is much hotter compared to most of drip coffee makers and it does not get overheated or bitter because it is in the thermal carafe. If you are looking for a quest for the ideal cup of coffee and this hits the mark.
I got this coffee because it was on clearance. I didn't even know Paul Newman made coffee in addition to salad dressings. I figured it would be decent. I was right. It's not great coffee, but if you aren't fussy about your coffee, you will be satisfied. And for the price, you can't go wrong. If it wasn't on clearance, I would have bought Peet's coffee or something similar.
I found an interesting study from the Japanese which showed that 99.8% of the pesticides used in farming coffee beans, was burned off in the roasting process. So even though it is almost as clean as organic and not as harmful as one might think, it still lacks the quality in terms of organic fertilizers and culitivation not to mention the storing and shipping which greatly effects quality! I prefer organic all the way but it was an interesting informative article about that study. Here’s the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23154763
“I’ve tried many coffee products in the organic, shade-grown genre, and this is by far the smoothest, most well-balanced bean yet. The beans arrived perfectly roasted, fresh, nicely oily, with an awesome aroma. Every cup has been perfect. I love dark-roast coffee but hate over-roasted darks … I use only French press and pour-over methods, by the way. Tiny Footprint really seem to have their techniques dialed in, and I’m a fan of the environmental stewardship they stand for. I’ll be a repeat customer and highly recommend this coffee.”
Kim Westerman is a licensed Q-grader, a longtime food, wine and travel writer and a certified sommelier. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, Bay Area Bites, and many other publications. She happily brings her sensory training in wine to the evaluation of coffee in Coffee Review’s Berkeley lab. She also handles communication with roasters and review logistics.
Help me choose, please. l like dark 62% chocolate. I don’t like astringent tastes or bitter coffee. I drink my coffee black, for pleasure, rather than being more awake. Currently drinking Kroger’s Supreme medium roast, which tastes good but bland… Just learning about ‘real’ coffee, so anything you suggest will guide me to what’s better than grocery store coffee.. Like Olive Oil, took me weeks to learn what a good olive oil is.. and now I know. Thanks. Frances
“This is a very good-tasting coffee and seems quite fresh. For a dark roast, it has a milder taste, which has grown on me to the point that I know I will continue buying this bean. Having a milder taste might also have something to do with the way it is roasted, as there is no bitter flavor at all. I love this coffee, and you cannot beat the price for a two-pound bag.”

The equal exchange works with small co-operatives of small farmers all over the world. This is a coffee chain that values people and places those places that are part of it. This may be seen simple, but it is not how things are done in coffee industry. The workers work hard to ensure that the product comes out with an excellent quality. This is one of the companies that keep on fighting for the lasting change. They have classic blend that combines dark roasted and medium coffee for the cup that is sweet and balanced with the creamy mouth feel and some hints of chocolate brownie, caramel, and roasted nut.

The organic rainforest blend coming in on swift winds from San Francisco Bay Coffee represents a tasteful mixture of medium roasted Arabica coffee beans. The lush taste here is thanks to enriched citrus notes. This is a certified organic coffee produced in Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, and Indonesia. Made from carefully selected beans and sealed fresh in K-cups, to provide the exclusive quality taste.
It was about time for a café au Parisienne on our list. Say hello to Bulletproof, a whole bean coffee that strives to find the absolute perfection as far as a cup of Joe can go. Every single bean that you will find in your own pack or this organic decaf coffee has been handpicked by a skilled person in the deep of Central America when it was ripe and ready to be enjoyed. Therefore, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy.

The idea of a K-Cup is definitely going to turn off a coffee snob. They like to have total control over the coffee—from the roasting to the grinding to the brewing to the preparing (God forbid you add milk!). They may consider using their own beans in a reusable K-Cup, but the fact that they can't control the brewing temperature and duration of the Keurig machine means they will look at the K-Cups the way they would a cup of convenience store coffee.

Café Britt produces 12-ounce bags of dark roasted coffee and sells them in 2 bag sets. The company uses 100% organic fertilizers and grows its bushes underneath native tree species, preserving the agro-ecosystem of the region. This single origin variety is preferred by chefs from around the world. Since 1991, the company has produced this rich coffee with its hint of apple aroma. It is medium dark and not acidic.
Melitta Coffee is a Colombian Supreme ground coffee product that is extremely rich in flavor and taste. The well-balanced blend is made of 100% Colombian best Arabica coffee beans that are sourced from only the best of coffee farms. It is medium roasted and finely ground for a richer cup while using nearly 30% less amount of caffeine than other brands of coffee. Not only that but it is also one of the easiest to prepare.
To be honest, my expectations were low for whatever “affordable” coffee Whole Foods might offer, and I was a bit reluctant even to include it under the umbrella of regular grocery stores (despite the company’s recent “Yes, we have sales!” ad campaign), but here I stand both corrected and impressed. 365 Everyday Value is the Whole Foods Market store brand, which markets products fitting the Whole Foods ethos, at least aesthetically—don’t assume it’s organic!—at regular grocery prices. A 10-ounce bag of ground coffee costs $5.99 at the Gowanus Whole Foods in Brooklyn, making it the cheapest bagged coffee here per-unit and decidedly on the cheap end per-pound. Pleasant Morning Buzz is a Vienna roast-style coffee, a dark roast just shy of a French roast style, which gives the coffee a heavy, bittersweet flavor that’s easy to sip on for a black coffee drinker. As a rule, darker roasts do not microwave as well as lighter roasts, and this coffee is no exception—get it while it’s hot or pour yourself a new one.
This k-cup sampler pack was part of a Black Friday bundle with the purchase of a Keurig coffee maker at an incredible price. Since I bought the Keurig for the work place, I went through the variety of k-cups (2 pods of each variety) kept what were my favorites and took the rest to work. It actually was one the the best varieties in an assortment pack I have seen. I like the dark roasts and this assortment had a nice blend of dark, medium and light/breakfast blends. Was very impressed.
Promising review for their Cold Brew Cold Press Elixir blend: "I have ordered a few bags of this and it's become my favorite coffee for cold brew. The grind is nice and coarse; it's been fresh every time I have open a bag, unlike a few more-expensive brands I've purchased on Amazon (that came fancifully packaged, but whose aroma fell short when the sealed bag was opened). The taste is complex and the caffeine level is potent. After a big serving of this, a hummingbird can't keep up with me." —Mr. BBQ guy

I found an interesting study from the Japanese which showed that 99.8% of the pesticides used in farming coffee beans, was burned off in the roasting process. So even though it is almost as clean as organic and not as harmful as one might think, it still lacks the quality in terms of organic fertilizers and culitivation not to mention the storing and shipping which greatly effects quality! I prefer organic all the way but it was an interesting informative article about that study. Here’s the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23154763